Jailed pastors in eritrea could face treason charges

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27 May

Jailed pastors in eritrea could face treason charges

LOS ANGELES, May 27 (Compass Direct News) – Unconfirmed reports emerged this month in the Eritrean capital of Asmara, indicating that the repressive regime plans to press formal charges of treason against several Protestant pastors jailed for the past four years. Official conviction for treason carries the death penalty in the tiny Horn of Africa nation, ruled by what many regard as one of the world’s most brutal and paranoid governments in matters of religious liberty and freedom of speech. Relatives and church members of the long-jailed pastors are experiencing “great anxiety” over these unconfirmed reports, sources inside Eritrea told Compass this week.

Three of the most prominent Protestant pastors – Full Gospel Church leaders Haile Naizghi and Dr. Kifle Gebremeskel, together with Tesfatsion Hagos of the Rema Evangelical Church – have been imprisoned incommunicado for the past four years. According to an investigative report released last week by Reporters Without Borders, these three pastors “have been missing within the Eritrean prison system since their arrests in May 2004.” The report fingered special presidential adviser and government minister Naizghi Kiflu as “the man within the government in charge of crushing the churches.” In May 2002 Kiflu banned 36 churches and religious groups from state recognition on the pretext of “grounds that they allegedly encouraged insurrection and supported networks of deserters,” the report said. Although Eritrean law prohibits the detention of any citizen without charges for more than 30 days, the government has refused to file official charges against any of these pastors or give any reason for jailing them and hundreds of their church members. At least 15 other pastors, priests and deacons are known to be among more than 2,000 Christians incarcerated in jails, police stations and military camps all across Eritrea for their religious beliefs and practices. They have been repeatedly subjected to beatings and torture and sometimes locked in metal shipping containers or underground cells to force them to recant their faith. Weekend Arrests In the latest arrests last weekend, police raided a private home and jailed 25 Christians who had gathered on Eritrea’s Independence Day to pray for the nation. Sources inside Eritrea confirmed to Compass yesterday that 20 men and five women meeting in a fellow Christian’s home in Adi-Kuala on Saturday (May 24) were taken into custody. All 25 are members of the local Medhane group, a renewal movement within the Eritrean Orthodox Church. The prisoners are now being held in the police station in Adi-Kuala, a town near the Eritrean-Ethiopian border at Mareb. But local sources remained fearful that the authorities planned to transfer them to the Wi’a Military Training Center, notorious for its fierce mistreatment of religious prisoners. At the same time, Compass has confirmed the release of two separate groups of Christian prisoners held in detention for the past three months. Ten members of the Church of the Living God, a breakaway group from the Eritrean Orthodox Church, were set free after three months’ detention in the Mendefera police station. Another 15 members of the Kale Hiwot Church who had been held in the Keren police station were also reported released. All the discharged prisoners were forced to pay 80,000 nakfa ($5,330) per person as bail. When they were set free, authorities strictly warned them against involvement in any Christian activities in the future. Some were forced to surrender property deeds as bond, in order to secure the steep bail demands. The Marxist-slanted regime of President Isaias Afwerki banned all of Eritrea’s independent Protestant churches in May 2002, ordering their buildings closed and criminalizing any meetings for worship in private homes. Eritrea’s ambassador to the United States claimed in a February 2005 radio broadcast over the Voice of America that Eritrea’s independent Protestants were “the Christian equivalent of al-Qaeda” and constituted a terrorist threat to the nation. Although the government’s vicious crackdown initially targeted the country’s rapidly growing Pentecostal and charismatic congregations, overt interference in the internal affairs of the Orthodox church has also landed several priests and lay leaders in jail and resulted in the forcible replacement of the church’s elderly patriarch with a government appointee. Since May 2002, only the Orthodox, Catholic and Lutheran churches have been classified by the Eritrean government as “historic” Christian denominations and allowed to worship legally. Nearly half of the population are adherents of Islam. Source: http://www.onenewsnow.com/Persecution/Default.aspx?id=124864

posted at 2:03:26 PM on 5/27/2008 - Category: General

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5/28/2008 12:18:17 AM

MEDHANIYALEM wrote:

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5/27/2008 11:05:05 PM

Observer wrote:

Guys, If you want peace in Somalia, eliminate Isaias Afewerki. He is the one who is suppllying material and training in Eritrea. Without the support of Isaias, Al Shabab is nothing. Get rid of Isaias, so that peace will prevail in the horn of Africa. Death to Isaias now! UN work for it Observer

5/27/2008 11:00:23 PM

HAILE MANJUS wrote:

ክቡራት ደቂ ሃገረይ ============= እዚ ናይ ሎመዓልቲ ብሓደ ጋዜጠኛ/ኣፈኛ ዝቐረበ ሓተታን ብፕረሲደንት ኢሳያስ ዝተመለሰ ሕቶታትን ፡ ንሰማዕቲ ብዙሕ ኣገሪምናን ኣስደሚሙናን እመስል ። ካብቲ ዘገርም ግን ፡ ጠባይ ሓደ ውልቀ ሰብ ፡ ብሓደ ለይቲ ቀጢኑ ኣይሓድርን ኢዩ ክብል እደፍር ። መልሲን ዘረባን ኣቶ ኢሳያስ ኣማዕዲኻ ክትሰምዕ ከለኻ ፡ እንዳሓደርካ ዘተክዝን ዘዐብድን ኢዩ ። ብሓቂ ድማ፡ ኣቶ ኢሳያስ ምስ ድንቁርንኡ ዝተወልደ ፡ ብስድነት ዝዓበየ ፡ ዕዋላ ፡ ሃላይ ፡ ገስረጥ ምዃኑ የረደኣና ።፡ እዚ ከምዚ ዝበለ ኣጋጣምታት ፡ ንዓና ንሰማዕቲ ፡ ብፍላይ ነቶም ብማዕዶ ንፈልጦ ፡ ሓደ ጸቡቕ ኣጋጣሚ ኢዩ ። መቐረት ጸብሒ ምስ ጨነወካ ትፈልጦ ፡ ንዓሻ ከኣ ምስ ተዛረበ ጥራሕ ኢኻ ትፈልጦ ። ኣብ ልዕሊ'ዚ ፡ ከገርመና ዝግበኦ ነገር እንተሃልዩ ፡ ናይ ሕጂ ዝተጋህደ ዕሉል ዕሽነቱ ከምዘይኮነ ኢዩ ፡፡ እዚ ሰብ 'ዚ ፡ ሎሚ ድሕሪ ወዲ 60 ዓመት ምዃኑ ፡ ክንደይ ተመኺሩ ፡ ተማሂሩ ፡ ክንድ-ሰብ ኮይኑ ፡ በሲሉ ወይ ተሞኲሩ ተባሂሉ 'ኳ ከምዚ ዓይነት ኣተሓሳስባን ድንቁርናን ካብ ሃለዎ ......ኣብቲ ዝሓለፈ 40 ዓመታት ናይ ቃልሲ እዋናት ፡ መንእሰይ ኣብዝነበረሉ ጊዜ ፡ ከመይ ዝበለ ልቦናን ተመክሮን ሚዛንን ክእለትን ወይ ብስለትን ነይርዎ ኢልኩም ትግምቱ ????? ። ካብቲ ዝዓጅብ ግን ፡ እዞም ሕጂ ትርእይዎም ዘለኹም መራሕቲ ሻዕብያን ዋላ እቶም ተኣሲሮም ዘለዉ ሓለፍቲ እውን ሓዊስካ ፡ ንኣርበዓ ዓመታት ዝኣክል ኣበይ ነይሮም ? ንግሆ ንግሆ ኣኪቡ ዘረባ ጓሶት ክዛረቦም ከሎ ኣበይ ዓለም ይነብሩ ነይሮም ? እዚስ ፡ ኣሺንባይዶ ሃገር ፡ ንሓንቲ ጋንታ እኳ ክመርሕ ዘይግበኦ ሰብ ኢዩ ። 40 ዓመታት ፡ ኣብ ሓደ ጣውላ ኮፍ ኢሎም ብዛዕባ ዘውዶምን ንጉሳዊ ኣገዛዝአኦምን ይሓስቡ ነይሮም ። ክንደይ ደቂ ተካሊት ከኣ ንኸንቱ ጠፊኦም ። ወዲ ማርያም ክሊዓው ፡ ኣብ ቋቑራ ተወቲፉ ተሪፉ ። እንበኣርከስ ብጾት ደቂ ሃገር ፡ ዋላ እዞም ተኣሲሮም ዘለዉ መራሕቲ ፡ ከደናግሩና ትማሊ ትማሊ ብዳግማይ ጊዜ ክጥመቑ እንተፈተኑ ፡ እዋሕስ ኣግብእ !!! ንስኻትኩም እውን ከም ጎይታኹም ሰረቕቲ ኢኹም ንብሎም ። ኩሎም እቶም ኣብታ ጋዓት ምብላዕ ዝነበሩ ጎይታን ጎይቶትን ፡ ኣብ ነነብሶም ምስ በጽሓቶም ኢዮም እምበር ፡ ደቂ መዛምርቲ.....""ንስረቕ ተበልኩም ንስረቕ ፡ ንብላዕ ተበልኩም ንስረቕ ዝብሉ"" ኢዮም ነይሮም ። ፍቑራት ደቂ ሃገረይ ! ካብዚ እንታይ ትርድኡ ፡ እንታይ'ከ ትመዝኑ ? ንወዲ ሰብ ክትመዝኖ ፡ 40 ዓመታት ኣይኮነን ዘድልየካ ፡ 40 ደቓይቕ'ውን ብዙሕ ኢዩ ። ንሕና እኳ ብማዕዶ በዛ ሓተታ እዚኣ ክንደይ ክንመዝን ካብ ከኣልና !!!!! .......ምስ ኢሰያስ ኣብ ሓደ ጣውላን ዓራትን ኣሳፊሕካ እንዳዕለልካ'ኸ ? ......ቁርብ ክትመዝን ኣይትኽእልን ? ኣይዘረባን ! ኣይዘረባን ============ የርህዎ ኣምላኽ Yerhewo AmlaK - 24 May, 2008 - 10:31:28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leave comment

5/27/2008 10:32:40 PM

HAILE MANJUS wrote:

ክቡራት ደቂ ሃገረይ ============= እዚ ናይ ሎመዓልቲ ብሓደ ጋዜጠኛ/ኣፈኛ ዝቐረበ ሓተታን ብፕረሲደንት ኢሳያስ ዝተመለሰ ሕቶታትን ፡ ንሰማዕቲ ብዙሕ ኣገሪምናን ኣስደሚሙናን እመስል ። ካብቲ ዘገርም ግን ፡ ጠባይ ሓደ ውልቀ ሰብ ፡ ብሓደ ለይቲ ቀጢኑ ኣይሓድርን ኢዩ ክብል እደፍር ። መልሲን ዘረባን ኣቶ ኢሳያስ ኣማዕዲኻ ክትሰምዕ ከለኻ ፡ እንዳሓደርካ ዘተክዝን ዘዐብድን ኢዩ ። ብሓቂ ድማ፡ ኣቶ ኢሳያስ ምስ ድንቁርንኡ ዝተወልደ ፡ ብስድነት ዝዓበየ ፡ ዕዋላ ፡ ሃላይ ፡ ገስረጥ ምዃኑ የረደኣና ።፡ እዚ ከምዚ ዝበለ ኣጋጣምታት ፡ ንዓና ንሰማዕቲ ፡ ብፍላይ ነቶም ብማዕዶ ንፈልጦ ፡ ሓደ ጸቡቕ ኣጋጣሚ ኢዩ ። መቐረት ጸብሒ ምስ ጨነወካ ትፈልጦ ፡ ንዓሻ ከኣ ምስ ተዛረበ ጥራሕ ኢኻ ትፈልጦ ። ኣብ ልዕሊ'ዚ ፡ ከገርመና ዝግበኦ ነገር እንተሃልዩ ፡ ናይ ሕጂ ዝተጋህደ ዕሉል ዕሽነቱ ከምዘይኮነ ኢዩ ፡፡ እዚ ሰብ 'ዚ ፡ ሎሚ ድሕሪ ወዲ 60 ዓመት ምዃኑ ፡ ክንደይ ተመኺሩ ፡ ተማሂሩ ፡ ክንድ-ሰብ ኮይኑ ፡ በሲሉ ወይ ተሞኲሩ ተባሂሉ 'ኳ ከምዚ ዓይነት ኣተሓሳስባን ድንቁርናን ካብ ሃለዎ ......ኣብቲ ዝሓለፈ 40 ዓመታት ናይ ቃልሲ እዋናት ፡ መንእሰይ ኣብዝነበረሉ ጊዜ ፡ ከመይ ዝበለ ልቦናን ተመክሮን ሚዛንን ክእለትን ወይ ብስለትን ነይርዎ ኢልኩም ትግምቱ ????? ። ካብቲ ዝዓጅብ ግን ፡ እዞም ሕጂ ትርእይዎም ዘለኹም መራሕቲ ሻዕብያን ዋላ እቶም ተኣሲሮም ዘለዉ ሓለፍቲ እውን ሓዊስካ ፡ ንኣርበዓ ዓመታት ዝኣክል ኣበይ ነይሮም ? ንግሆ ንግሆ ኣኪቡ ዘረባ ጓሶት ክዛረቦም ከሎ ኣበይ ዓለም ይነብሩ ነይሮም ? እዚስ ፡ ኣሺንባይዶ ሃገር ፡ ንሓንቲ ጋንታ እኳ ክመርሕ ዘይግበኦ ሰብ ኢዩ ። 40 ዓመታት ፡ ኣብ ሓደ ጣውላ ኮፍ ኢሎም ብዛዕባ ዘውዶምን ንጉሳዊ ኣገዛዝአኦምን ይሓስቡ ነይሮም ። ክንደይ ደቂ ተካሊት ከኣ ንኸንቱ ጠፊኦም ። ወዲ ማርያም ክሊዓው ፡ ኣብ ቋቑራ ተወቲፉ ተሪፉ ። እንበኣርከስ ብጾት ደቂ ሃገር ፡ ዋላ እዞም ተኣሲሮም ዘለዉ መራሕቲ ፡ ከደናግሩና ትማሊ ትማሊ ብዳግማይ ጊዜ ክጥመቑ እንተፈተኑ ፡ እዋሕስ ኣግብእ !!! ንስኻትኩም እውን ከም ጎይታኹም ሰረቕቲ ኢኹም ንብሎም ። ኩሎም እቶም ኣብታ ጋዓት ምብላዕ ዝነበሩ ጎይታን ጎይቶትን ፡ ኣብ ነነብሶም ምስ በጽሓቶም ኢዮም እምበር ፡ ደቂ መዛምርቲ.....""ንስረቕ ተበልኩም ንስረቕ ፡ ንብላዕ ተበልኩም ንስረቕ ዝብሉ"" ኢዮም ነይሮም ። ፍቑራት ደቂ ሃገረይ ! ካብዚ እንታይ ትርድኡ ፡ እንታይ'ከ ትመዝኑ ? ንወዲ ሰብ ክትመዝኖ ፡ 40 ዓመታት ኣይኮነን ዘድልየካ ፡ 40 ደቓይቕ'ውን ብዙሕ ኢዩ ። ንሕና እኳ ብማዕዶ በዛ ሓተታ እዚኣ ክንደይ ክንመዝን ካብ ከኣልና !!!!! .......ምስ ኢሰያስ ኣብ ሓደ ጣውላን ዓራትን ኣሳፊሕካ እንዳዕለልካ'ኸ ? ......ቁርብ ክትመዝን ኣይትኽእልን ? ኣይዘረባን ! ኣይዘረባን ============ የርህዎ ኣምላኽ Yerhewo AmlaK - 24 May, 2008 - 10:31:28 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leave comment

5/27/2008 10:27:35 PM

big boy from Dc wrote:

may GOD bless us is it appointed to us to die alive ?

5/27/2008 9:54:55 PM

Deborah wrote:

Haile Naizghi is my neighbour, Dr. Kiflu was my lecturer...I know them very very very well...charging them with treason can only be a joke. Joke of the day!!! O God please save Eritrea and Eritreans from the insanity of its leaders

5/27/2008 6:46:42 PM

ማርዶካይ wrote:

ብሰንከይ ሲ ኪንደይ መከራን ጭንቀትን ክትረኽቡ ኢኹም እሞ፡ ዓለምን ምላእታን ስለ ዘይናትኩም ዓስብኹም ካብ ሰመያዊ አቦ እምበር ካብ ደቂ ሰባት አይኮነን። ጎይታ እየሱስ ግና ካብቲ መንቀራቕሮ ሓራ ከም ዘውጻኩም ድማ ናይ ሩጉጽ ርጉጽነት እዩ። ጸሎትና ቀጻሊ እዩ። እግዚኣቢሄር ረዳኢና እዩ እንፈርሖ ነገር የሎን። ኣንቱም ደቂ ሰባት ከየባተኽና ንጸሊ ካብ ጠበንጃ መጽሓፍ ቅዱስ ስለ ዝሓዙ፡ ካብ ብሬን መስቀል ስለ ዝተሸከሙ እንሆ እቲ ናይ ዓለም ዓስቦም ሽላታት መቁሕ ማሕዩር ኮኢኑ አሎ። ኸየባተኽና ንጸሊ ንጸሊ ንጸሊ ንጸሊ!!!!!!!!! እየሱስ ጎይታ እዩ!!! ኣሜን!!!! ተባረኹ!!! ብጎይታ ሓዉኹም ማርዶካይ ተኸስተ

5/27/2008 6:42:37 PM

RUTH wrote:

THE SON OF THE BEDEVELLED ISAIAS AFEWORKI ABRAHA ;THE MOST CURSED AFRICAN /TEMBENAY/THE VERTUAL PERSONIFICATION OF DIABILLOS "ACTING AS A PRESIDENT" ISAIAS AFEWORKI IS DOING THE DEVIL JOB ON THIS DEFENCELESS CHRISTIAN BELIVERS OF JESUS AS THEIR SAVIOR NOT ISAIAS AFEWORKI IS VERY ANOING TO CONTEPLATE.THESE ARE HARMLESS FAITHFULL PEOPLE.THE PRESIDENT SHOULD RELAX THESE THESE PEOPLE ARE NOT A TREAT FOR HIS RULE FOR LIFE.HURTING THESE PEOPLE 'LL BE A SIGN OF YOUR DEMISE IN POWER AS COL.MENGISTU HALEMARIAM; EVEN AFTER YOU RUN AWAY THE INNOSENENT ERITREAN BLOOD YOU ARE SPILLING 'LL HUNT YOU TO YOUR DEATH BED.

5/27/2008 5:45:19 PM

Jimmy wrote:

The brutal PFDJ may control this evangelical christians' the movement their physical being. But they have no control over where the heart and spirits of this christians. What ever the physical suffering they encounter, their faith in God never stops. They still pray and warship God wherever they are whether in a metal container or in the underground dangeon. And I know many of the evangelical christian that are imprisoned right now. I am 100% sure they are innocent against treason or all other charges. As far as I can see this abuse is nothing but a pure hatered against other religions. I wouldn't say any religions in Eritrea should be prosecuted for their beliefs. But,unlike Johovah's witnesses,the evangelicals have fulfilled their national duties on what it is asked of them. I know personally some of this christians from full Gospel and Kale hiwot who have died at the border conflict. It is not necessarily because the PFDJ criminals told them to but because they love every bit of Eritrea where they are from. With that being said, the DIA and his few inflaming puppets in the diaspora have done nothing for Eritrea except being spoiled where every they are around their cozy sofa. Just wait when there will be charges of treason coming back to bite your behind ugly fat ass. You PFDJ criminals are nothing but full of shame.

5/27/2008 4:52:47 PM

Yerhewo AmlaK wrote:

ኩሉ ፡ እንተዝስፈር ...........ስፍሪ ኸኣ ንነብስኻ እንተዝኸውን .....ክንደይ ምሸወትና ነይርና ።

5/27/2008 4:46:37 PM

Jesus is lord wrote:

IN THE NAME OF JESUS CHRAIST OF NATHERET !! WHAT IS GOING ON ?? WHAT ?? HA ??

5/27/2008 4:33:07 PM

feza wrote:

pls stop the lie

5/27/2008 2:56:30 PM

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